1940 Champs – The Flat Foot Four

Photos courtesy of BHS Archives

Let’s Begin

About the same time Barbershop Harmony was being discovered in Tulsa, OK, something entirely different was being discovered down the road in Oklahoma City.

Oil.

Black Gold.

Texas Tea.

The news of that find spread quickly, and soon speculators, investors and entrepreneurs descended upon the city in droves. So many, that within 15 years the population of Oklahoma City doubled to nearly 200,000 residents.

And of course, with all that growth came an increase in crime.

Law & Order

Gangsters from the East invaded the city. They brought with them bootleg liquor, brothels and gambling. There even was a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. The police department was engulfed in shoot-outs, vice-raids, and hangings.

In order to combat the increase in crime, city officials often “appointed” men to the police force, making it a “loose collection of untrained men”. As many as 2,000 men were appointed to the force during this period.

At the time, the mayor of Oklahoma City was Otto “OA” Cargill. Elected in 1923, Cargill inherited a city that was in serious trouble. Not only was crime rampant, but the city was in serious debt. These troubles were documented almost daily in the newspapers, making the citizens of Oklahoma City lose faith in their city government.

Singing “Just for the Fun of It”

During this same time period, four-part harmony was gaining attention across the country thanks to the Peerless Quartet. Their fame on the Vaudeville circuit was the catalyst for many “informal” quartets – men who wanted to sing four-part harmony “just for the fun of it”.

Soon, barbershop harmony quartets were springing up all over the country, singing songs like “Sweet Adeline” and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”. For most of these men, this was a past-time, and new hobby.

Among the many groups that formed in Oklahoma City was one made up of two car salesmen, Leon “Johnny” Whalen singing tenor, and Roland “RL” Cargill – brother of mayor Cargill – singing baritone. They were joined by two Oklahoma City police officers, jailer Frank Sheppard on lead and desk sergeant Bill Parrish on bass.

They were good. So good, in fact, that they were asked to sing at the funeral of Detective Briggs Chumley, who was shot to death during a robbery on November 3^rd, 1924. This was their first known appearance. The quartet – then known only as the Police Quartet – sang “Rock of Ages”, accompanied by the Fireman’s Band. Mayor Cargill also attended the funeral.

Those humble beginnings for the quartet led to an invitation to sing at the Department’s Christmas Eve party in 1924, where they appeared as the “feature attraction”.

Still known as the Police Quartet, they next appeared on radio station KFRU in Bristow, a small town just northwest of Oklahoma City on Friday, January 16^th, 1925. Not only was this the first known radio appearance by the quartet, it was one of the very first shows on KFRU – the station had just been founded by owner EH Rollestone earlier that month. The show was so successful, the owners asked the quartet to return again the following Friday, January 23^rd, 1925 to sing “a lot of old-fashioned songs”. Thanks to those two performances, the police department was flooded with over 1,000 letters requesting photographs of the quartet.

Several weeks later, the quartet sang for the Oklahoma City Credit Men at the Oklahoman Club. The Credit Men was a national association that helped business communities grow through the use of credit – a novel idea at that time.

Later that year, the quartet sang at the annual convention of the State Sheriff’s Association in nearby Holdenville, OK. The function was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, and they appeared during the evening banquet. The quartet sang a variety of songs from their repertoire, including Annie Laurie, Shine and Oh Joe, songs that would later become a hallmark for the quartet.

Mayor OA Cargill, brother of baritone Roland “RL” Cargill, was once again in attendance. After the show, he came up with a unique idea. He thought that if he could get the quartet to represent the police department at other civic functions, then he could possibly begin to restore civic pride in the city and their police department. But there was a small problem. The mayor’s brother Roland and their tenor Leon “Johnny” Whalen were car salesmen – they were not police officers. In order to overcome that obstacle, Mayor Cargill came up with a quick solution.

He appointed the two salesmen – His brother Roland and tenor Johnny Whalen – to the police department. Within several days, the two were sworn to oath, given uniforms and instructed to keep singing!

Mayor Cargill even gave them a name.

The Flat Foot Four.

The quartet’s popularity continued to grow. They received “constant demands from civic clubs and other groups wanting entertainment”.

But in mid-1931 – long after Cargill had left office – the city appointed John Watt as Chief of Police – in what was viewed as a very unpopular decision at the time. Watt quickly instituted a series of fiscal policies due to a “lack of funds”. They included firing several police officers and reorganizing the department’s structure.

Among his many changes was the mandate that the quartet cease and desist from their singing activities as he viewed them as a dereliction of duty. He regarded their activity as not being “up the law-and-order alley”. So, the quartet disbanded, only singing at an occasional policeman’s funeral. One of those funerals was for OCPD Police Officer John H. Beasley, who was killed in a gun battle by a mental patient on May 18^th, 1933. The quartet – then made up of Red Elliott; Johnny Whalen; Jack Roberts and JD Walker – sang “In the Garden” and “The Old Rugged Cross”. Written in 1912 by George Bennard, The Old Rugged Cross was a popular gospel song at the time that was later made popular by Country/Western star Ernest Tubbs in 1952. The lyrics to the chorus were:

“So I’ll cherish the old rugged Cross

Till my trophies at last I lay down

I will cling to the old rugged Cross

And exchange it some day for a crown”

The no-sing hiatus lasted over six years, which caused a number of personnel changes in the quartet. Roland Cargill was the first to leave, opting to sing with the Shrine Quartet instead. He took the place of baritone Frank Heffington in that quartet. Bill West replaced Bill Parrish on Bass for the Flat Foot Four, and – interestingly – Clyde “Red” Elliott, who would later sing the baritone part in the championship quartet, replaced Bill Sheppard at lead. Also cycling through the ranks during this period were Ralph Kaylor, Jack Roberts, JD “Lefty” Walker and Paul “Sleepy” Chapman. Only one member of the quartet remained the same. Tenor Johnny Whalen.

In April 1937, an interesting turn of events took place. Granville Scanland was appointed Chief of Police, replacing former chief John Watt. The same John Watt that banned barbershop quartet singing on the police force six years earlier.

Scanland was an attorney who moved to Oklahoma City in 1924 at the age of 28. He was no slouch to four-part harmony. He sang baritone in many of the informal “pick-up” quartets that were popular at the time including the Jail House Blues. So, what was his first official act as chief?

Reinstate the Flat Foot Four!

The word spread quickly that the quartet was back in business and requests came in by the dozens. On Thursday, July 21^st, 1938, the quartet – at this point made up of Whalen, Elliott, Frank Heffington and Paul “Sleepy” Chapman – were invited to “sing for their breakfasts” at the all-women’s Breakfast Table Club, held at the Oklahoma Club.

In August 1938, the quartet was invited to Amarillo, TX to sing in the Old Southwest Days & Will Roger’s Pageant. Chief Scanland came along as well, at the invitation of Amarillo Chief Pat Flynn. Besides singing at the pageant, the quartet also acted as “bodyguards” for film actor Leo Carillo, a friend of Rogers.

Scanland even sang with the quartet for about one year –  somewhere about the end of 1938 or early 1939. “He’s got a good baritone voice” exclaimed Whalen. Unfortunately, he had to step down because his duties as Chief of Police became so demanding. He was replaced by WC “Red” Clyde Elliott, who had sung lead in the quartet about five years earlier. Elliott had now established himself as a strong baritone, having previously sung that part in the Shrine Quartet with Eddie Albright, Edward Crawford and Clarence Sloan. That quartet was well-known for their rendition of “That Wonderful Mother of Mine”.

Elliott was born on January 16^th, 1897 in Georgetown, TX. He joined the Oklahoma City Police Department in June, 1925, serving as a patrolman and a detective on the vice squad. Besides having a keen ability to sing, Elliott was a great police officer as well. In May 1936, he was involved in the capture of two escapees from Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, OK. Elliott – along with Officer Newt Burns of the Homicide Division – captured the daring duo after following them along a nearby creek. Burns shot one of the escapees, wounding him, and both immediately surrendered. Elliott searched and handcuffed the two while Burns held the gun on them.

Sam Barnes also joined the quartet at about the same time, which included Whalen on tenor and Britt Stegall singing lead. Interestingly enough, it was Stegall who had recruited Barnes for the quartet since the two had been sung together in the Boresome Foursome just prior to joining the Flat Foot Four.

Barnes was born on May 27, 1899 and served the Oklahoma City Police Department on-and-off for approximately ten years beginning in January 1939. He served as a patrol officer and a detective. One black mark against Barnes was the reprimanded he received for pistol-whipping a man during an arrest.

Britt Stegall, who was born on September 11^th, 1892 joined the OCPD in December, 1938 and was assigned to traffic patrol. Prior to joining the force, Stegall worked as a truck driver.

An interesting quirk about the quartet. None of them were tall – at least by today’s standards. Red Elliott was the tallest at 5’9-1/2” with Stegall and Barnes listed 5’8-1/2” on their police application. Whalen was the shortest at 5’4-1/2” tall.

But height didn’t matter. The quartet was now better than ever before. According to an article in The Oklahoman, “The four voices blended beautifully and really had musical merit”. They sang what was considered a “bright” sound, thanks to Stegall’s Irish-tenor quality lead part. Many regarded Stegall’s vocal quality as having a “throaty brightness” that was unique to barbershop harmony. This was matched nicely with Sam Barnes’ bass part, also labeled as “bright”. Red Elliott was known for a high degree of vibrato, while Whalen’s tenor was “bel canto”, a style of “operatic singing characterized by full, even tones”.

The Old Songs!

Many of the songs that the quartet sang were from the “Bill Hardey’s Songs of the Gay Nineties” songbook. Hardey was the owner of Bill’s Gay Nineties Night Club in New York City. The club hosted nightly shows featuring “a mixture of old tunes”, with such guest stars as Vaudevillian Headliner Aileen Stanley, and Howard Marsh, a leading Broadway tenor who played Gaylord Ravenal in the original Showboat. The soft covered book – 96 pages in all – was edited by Hugo Frey, and included such songs as “The Band Played On”, “Dear Old Girl”, “K-K-K-Katy” and “When You and I Were Young Maggie”. There were a total of 122 songs in the book. A copy of the song book that the quartet used was donated to the Barbershop Harmony Society in August 2011. It had been owned by baritone Clyde “Red” Elliott and was in scripted across the cover with “Best Wishes Flat Foot Four of Oklahoma City” by none other than Bill Hardey

SPEBSQSA Established

Thanks to its popularity, barbershop harmony now had grown from an informal group of pick-up quartets singing just for “the fun of it”, to a bona fide organization. In April 1938, two men – Rupert Hall and OC Cash founded the society in Tulsa, OK, and by June, news of the new society spread far and wide. Soon, barbershop harmony chapters were springing up in Kansas City, St. Louis and Oklahoma City. Many of the participants urged Cash and Hall to hold a convention and contest to pick “the World’s Champion Barbershop Quartet”. That contest was planned for June 1939 in Tulsa.

While that was happening, the Flat Foot Four continued to gain a great following of admirers – even beyond the city limits. In February 1939, they were asked to sing for the Sherman, TX Chamber of Commerce annual banquet on March 20th. The request came after a Sherman resident who heard the quartet sing was “carried away” by their performance. The problem, however, was that the quartet members needed time off from their official duties in order to make the 300-mile round trip. Fortunately, city manager WA Quinn was a fan of the quartet and granted them permission. 

This wasn’t the first time the quartet had to ask for time off in order to sing. In fact, the requests had become so frequent, Police Chief Frank Smith transferred Red Elliott and Sam Barnes to traffic control instead of their assignments in beat patrol and scout patrol, respectively. This gave each member of the quartet a day shift, which allowed them to be together each night for either rehearsals or engagements.

In April 1939 the quartet sang for over 1,000 guests at a conference for the International Women’s Bowling Congress. This was probably one of the first large-scale performances by the quartet. It was emceed by Billie Simon, a “hot-shot” women’s bowler from San Antonio, TX who called herself “The Queen of Texahoma”. She strode around stage in a 10-gallon hat, orange shirt, pants and cowboy boots. The show also included the Firemen’s String Quartet.

Between April and June, the quartet prepared to compete in the society’s first quartet competition. That convention was held in Tulsa on June 2^nd and 3^rd, 1939, at the Tulsa Central High School and drew nearly 50 quartets from 17 cities in 10 states.

Being the first convention, it was meticulously planned out by OC Cash. Always the showman, Cash had crafted an agenda of events that included a business session, luncheon and – of course – the competition. In the program, Cash wrote this about the registration process on the Mezzanine floor: “Barber Shoppers will be vaccinated, ear-tagged and tattooed so they can be returned to the herd if lost, strayed or stolen”. The cost of registration was “a mere $3.00”, which covered the cost of the “Official Songbook”, badge, luncheon and dinners.

Among the other competitors at that convention was the Capitol City Four from Canton, IL. Folklore has it that on the first day of the convention, the quartet entered the lobby of the Hotel Tulsa – the headquarters hotel – and “were overwhelmed by the singing of the Flat Foot Four” who were performing an encore.

The first qualifying rounds took place on Friday afternoon at 2:30pm with quartets being scheduled “as they arrived” that afternoon. The second round of qualifying took place on Saturday morning at 8:00am. Cash wrote in the program “Those who blew a tonsil or made it to the finals can play golf, if they want to waste their time that way. The more serious artists will serenade the townsfolk from pillar to post”. The “Grand Finals” for the “World’s Championship Barber Shop Quartet” were held Saturday evening at 7:30pm.

Being the first contest, there were very few rules. The ones that were observed included: “Competition restricted to Quartets (male) with or without accompaniment; “Each quartet will be permitted to sing two numbers of own choosing in qualifying and final rounds”; and finally “Quartets will be known to the judges by number only”.

Speaking of judges, there were none who would qualify as a judge today. The panel included a doctor, the Lieutenant Governor, an American Legion commander and several local educators.

Of course, the contest was won by the Bartlesville Barflies singing such tunes as “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and “Just a Dream of You”. The Flat Foot Four – with Granville Scanland singing baritone – placed third. Scanland had stepped in for Elliott, who was on leave at the time. Incidentally, the second-place quartet at the contest was the Capitol City Four – the quartet that was so awed by the Flat Foot Four the prior day!

A couple of side-notes about the Capitol City Four. There are differing stories as to their origins – some accounts list them as being from Topeka, KS, while others have them as originating from Canton, IL. Some others have them from Springfield IL. But, according to a passage by quartet member Huck Sinclair in Fred Gielow’s book Love, Laughter and a Barbershop Song, the group hailed from Topeka. Sinclair reminisces that the Capitol City Four first started singing in the Rotunda of the Museum Building. The group consisted of Bud Neal, Archie Wilkerson and Trim Trimble. Sinclair recounts that Trimble, who “had a voice that boomed like a church organ”, was hospitalized with wounds he sustained in World War I. In order to get him released, Sinclair says that the quartet members had to sneak Trimble – and his clothes – “in and out of the hospital every night we sang”.

Sinclair would later go on to win the 1943 International Championship as baritone with the Four Harmonizers, replacing Ed Young just several months before the competition.

As the third-place quartet, the Flat Foot Four were awarded a “Consolation Title”, and a “commission to each member as “Little Colonel””, another brilliant piece of prose by founder OC Cash. By the way, Cash didn’t forget about the other competitors. The “Also Rans” were awarded “A box of throat lozenges and best wishes for the next convention”.

The contest – and the publicity it garnered – created an instant hit for the young society and by early 1940, new chapters were springing up across the country.

The young society held a second convention and contest in New York City. This one was scheduled to coincide with the World’s Fair in June 1940.

New York City seemed a natural fit for the competition – it was already a hotbed of barbershop harmony. More than four years earlier, barbershop quartets from all five boroughs, Westchester and Long Island competed in the American Ballad Contest, held in Washington Square Park. Over 2,000 people were on hand as the Villagers – WG Sawyer, RL Vance, CE Nelson and JE Zendt – sang “Sweet Genevieve” and “On the Banks of the Wabash”. The four – all employees of Bell Telephone – rehearsed two times a week during their lunch hour for five months.

By that May, the Flat Foot Four was making plans to compete. But they were not the only quartet from Oklahoma that aspired to get to the national contest. In all, there were a total of 39 quartets from all over the state that were looking to win the coveted spot to compete. This included two other quartets from Oklahoma City, The Law-and-Order Quartet with WH Lawes, Glenn Lawes, Jack Lawes and Ben VanDyke, and the India Temple Shrine Quartet with Ed Albright singing Tenor, Grady Musgrave, Clarence Sloan and Ernie Dick. Because the Tulsa World newspaper was offering an all-expense-paid trip to NYC and the World’s Fair, people came out of the woodwork to compete. Among the competitors was an un-named quartet that featured Justice Denver Davison of the Oklahoma Supreme Court along with Townsend McClure singing bass, EH Dick singing lead and Grady Musgrave – entered in his second quartet – singing tenor. Incidentally, that quartet was coached by none other than Sam Barnes.

The competition was expanded to two sessions after a larger-than-expected number of applicants, all vying for the chance to win an all-expense trip to New York City. Judges for the competition included Sam Breadon, owner of the St. Louis Cardinals; Damon Kerby of the St. Louis Dispatch; and Joe Stern, a real-estate salesman from Kansas City and president of the Kansas City chapter of SPEBSQSA.

The Flat Foot Four won the state championship on Saturday night, June 29^th in front of 3,000 “devotees”, who were given fake mustaches for attending. The quartet was awarded shaving mugs from the Brown-Dunkin Department Store on East 4^th Street in Tulsa, as well as four copies of the Official SPEBSQSA Songbook. Cash thought they should receive more. “We invite other prizes for the champions”, he said. The news that the Flat Foot Four beat the Bartlesville Barflies in the state competition spread far and wide. News of their win was even published in the Palm Beach Times.

In mid-July, the Flat Foot Four appeared with legendary singer Gene Autry on radio station WKY for the Milk and Ice fund benefit. This served as a kind of “warm-up” for the quartet’s upcoming competition. The show was hosted by Lee Norton – also known by the on-air name of “Pancho” and included an appearance by marimba-phone star Chuck Wiles, another member of the WKY staff. Tickets for the event were $.50 for adults and $.15 for children under 12.

WKY was one of the first radio stations west of the Mississippi River, and was owned at the time by Edward K. Gaylord, who also owned the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. The station, located in the Plaza Court building at Northwest 10^th and Classes Boulevard, boasted the newest equipment – including a Kilgen pipe organ – and was regarded as one of the “most sophisticated” radio stations in the nation. The station would later also add the medium of television broadcasting to their programming.

On to New York City!

With just three weeks to prepare for the contest, the quartet was busy to say the least. Adding to that, they were barraged by well-wishers. Johnny Whalen, who worked dispatch, was flooded by phone calls. The other three – all assigned to traffic duty – actually created traffic jams as fans and friends stopped to greet them.

The quartet was given a send-off party at the Biltmore Hotel on Wednesday, July 10^th, 1940. Society Founder OC Cash spoke at the event. He was adamant that a quartet from Oklahoma would win the national contest. He predicted that either the Barflies or the Flat Foot Four would win the competition. “Oklahoma is the birthplace of the society. It would break this old heart of mine if we didn’t (win)”. He even went so far as to state that “We intend to pick a national winner if we have to bury a baritone”. Community leaders supported Cash and his cause, labeling it “the greatest civic involvement ever staged”.

After their shifts ended on Friday, July 19^th, they each ran home and packed – their phones still ringing off the wall. The quartet – along with a group of friends – departed from the Oklahoma City train station at 4:00am on Saturday, July 20^th, 1940. They were headed to Tulsa where they would take a train to New York City. Even though they were exhausted, the quartet sang “The Old Songs” and “My Mother’s Rosary” in an impromptu performance to about 300 well-wishers who were there to see them off, in the station’s lobby. My Mother’s Rosary would be one of the songs recorded on a four-record set made shortly after the quartet won the championship. The tag featured bass Sam Barnes singing “My Mo-ther’s Ro…” with a swipe, then the other three picked up for “-ary” with tenor Johnny Whalen providing the delicate high notes. Whalen would later lament on the train, “Boy, I’m going to try and get some sleep”!

Among the people who travelled with the quartet were long-time friends Bill Morris, Milton Peaster and Bob Chase, an attorney from Oklahoma City. Waiting for them in New York City was Hank Wright, president of the Oklahoma City chapter.

In Tulsa, they met up with the Bartlesville Barflies, OC Cash, Rupert Hall, OP Erickson and SM “Puny” Blevins, along with seven other members of the Tulsa, OK chapter. The group boarded the Santa Fe Streamliner, a “special railroad car” and left Tulsa at 8:40am. They arrived in Chicago on Saturday evening and immediately proceeded to the Illinois state quartet contest where they made a special appearance along with the Barflies.

Contest Week!

The contingent from Oklahoma arrived in New York City on Monday, July 22^nd at about 8:30am at Penn Station. From there, they walked across the street to the Governor Clinton Hotel. They spent the day touring the fair and preparing for the evening’s qualifying round.

Even though it was only the second contest, this was truly a national competition. Over 80 quartets from across the country had qualified to compete. From Michigan came The Highway Revelers – all employees of the Michigan State Highway commission. There were two quartets from Ohio – the Dickinson’s Non Pariels from Cleveland, and the Webster Warblers from Parma. From Florida were the Jacksonville Jax, and the Silver-Gray quartet from Miami. Besides the NYC Police Quartet, there were two other quartets from the New York City area. The Gas House Boys and the Consolidated Edison Company.

Among those 80 quartets were three quartets made up of police officers – The Flat Foot Four, The Kansas City Police Quartet and the NYC Police Quartet. That fact did not escape the attention of NYC Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine. He arranged for a police escort, led by patrolman John Sisk, the president of the NYC Police Glee Club, to escort each quartet around the city. At one point during the convention, the Flat Foot Four could be found at the corner of 44^th Street and Broadway directing traffic while harmonizing.

The Contest!

The quartets would be judged “by the variety and individuality of their harmonies and their fidelity to the traditional style, with obvious comparisons of accuracy and pitch, attack and release, correctness of interpretation, clearness of enunciation, effectiveness of expression, general showmanship and stage presence”.

Eliminations would be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30pm to 10:00pm in the Fair’s City Plaza where a bandshell was erected for the competition.

At least two quartets from each elimination round would be chosen for the final competition on Friday night.

The Bartlesville Barflies – winners of the first contest in 1939 and now known as the Phillips 66 Barflies -– were also invited to compete, though they were given a bye from the elimination rounds. 

On Monday night, July 22^nd over 3,000 people attended the opening round of the quartet competition. The contest was originally scheduled to begin at 7:30pm in the outdoor plaza but was moved indoors because of the threat of rain. It moved back outdoors 30 minutes later as the skies cleared. The judges that evening were Rupert Hall, Joseph Donnelly and Park Commissioner Robert Moses.

A total of ten quartets competed on Monday night, with the Flat Foot Four beating the Seven-Ups Quartet of Wichita, KS and the Yonkers Kiwanis Club quartet, which tied for second place. All three quartets were chosen to complete in the final round on Friday night.

There are differing accounts of what songs the quartet sang – some say it was “My Mother’s Rosary” and “Maggie Blues”, and other accounts have them singing “Shine” and “Old Joe”. But in all likelihood, the quartet sang “Oh Joe” as their first song, and “Roll ‘Dem Bones” as their second song. Critics wrote this about their rendition of the second tune: “it is a veritable triumph in this subtle art. The rendition has a quality of trombone-like elan that lifts you out of your chair with prickling spine”.

The quartet’s arrangement of “Oh Joe” featured a series of bass pickups by Sam Barnes. “Bum, bum, bum bum” he bellowed to start the song. Then the other three joined in “Come honey let’s go down”, Barnes would again sing the pick up “to Honk…”, with the quartet adding “-key tonky town”. Towards the end of the song, Barnes displayed his amazing range of voice, singing the deep low notes with great elan, then swiping to the high notes with great delicacy. The arrangement was actually a condensed version of “Down in Honky Tonk Town”, written in 1916 by Chas McCarron and Chris Smith. The quartet only sang the chorus to the song, omitting the two verses. Incidentally, an instrumental version of the entire song was recorded by none other than Louis Armstrong in 1940 and was featured on his album “New Orleans Jazz” on the Decca label.

On Tuesday evening, the New York City Police Department quartet placed first in their qualifying round. Also qualifying that evening were the Yale City Four from New Haven, CT, The Kansas City Police Quartet from Kansas City, MO, and the Four Jax from Jacksonville, FL.

The Master of Ceremonies for the Wednesday night semi-final round was Dr. Sigmund Spaeth, author of “Barbershop Ballads, the official SPEBSQSA songbook. The competing quartets that evening were The American Jubilee, The Four Fire Laddies from Boston, The Melodiers from Essex County, NJ, and the Silver Gray Quartet from Miami.  

On Thursday night, the competition once again proved to be fierce. Two quartets tied for first place and two others tied for second place during the elimination round. Tied for first were the St. Mary’s Horseshoes from the Bronx, and the Plow City Four from Canton, ILL. In second place were the Chromatic Canaries of St. Louis and the Frog Hollow Four of Mountain Lake, NJ.  Spaeth later said the judges felt all four quartets sang with “similar excellence” and that “it would be entirely in order to call it a four-team tie for top honors”.

The Final Round!

That made for a total of 14 quartets that competed in the final round on Friday night in front of 2,500 people. The finals were carried live both locally and nationally on NBC radio. Among the judges for the contest were former NYS governor Al Smith, Mayor Fiori LaGuardia, OC Cash, Fred Waring and Geoffrey O’Hara.

The suspense was electric, with each quartet hoping to dethrone the reigning champs. And back in Bartlesville, residents were “bending an ear radio-ward” to hear the Barflies compete.

Earlier on Friday, the order of appearance was selected for the final round. The order as it appeared in the program:

1. Yonkers Kiwanis Club from Yonkers, NY
2. The Friendly Four from Pine Grove, PA
3. The Phillips 66 Barflies from Bartlesville, OK
4. The Four Barbers from NYC
5. The NYC Police Quartet from NYC
6. St. Mary’s Horsemen from NYC
7. The Frog Hollow Four from Mountain Lakes, NJ
8. The Plow City Four from Canton, IL
9. The Yale City Four from New Haven, CT
10. The Four Jax from Jacksonville, FL
11. The Chromatic Canaries from St. Louis, MO
12. The Flat Foot Four from Oklahoma City, OK
13. The Seven-Up Quartet from Wichita, KS
14. The Kansas City Police Quartet from Kansas City, MO

Prior to the contest, New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith – who was one of the judges that evening – mounted the stage and led the throngs in “East Side, West Side” and “The Bowery”.

The New York Herald Tribune reported “Nearly all the quartets were dressed in clothing reminiscent of the Gay Nineties”. The Flat Foot Four chose to wear their police uniforms, with white caps and light grey shirts.

The finals lasted over two hours that night, with the Flat Foot Four not appearing until around 9pm. Again, there are differing accounts to their song selection, but most likely – and according to the NY Times – they sang their own arrangements of “Annie Laurie” and “Shine”. The Times wrote: “No sooner had they completed the first phrase in “Shine”, then the audience hushed”. By the end of the song, many of the women in the audience were weeping.

The crowd erupted. “Judging from the applause, the Flat Foot Four was the outstanding quartet”, the newspaper read. “By the time the cops had finished a slurred-toned Shine and a highly original Annie Laurie, the Barflies were licked—by one point”.

The top nine quartets were presented with radios and phonographs, valued at $150.00/each by the Crosley Corporation.

Back in Oklahoma City, news of their victory spread quickly “They took New York without firing a shot,” reported the local newspapers. The celebration kicked off thanks to two motorcycle police officers who – upon hearing the news – escorted Britt Stegall’s wife Peggy to the Tulsa World News Offices to be interviewed. “I think it’s the grandest thing in the world,” she exclaimed. “But then I knew they would win”. Newspapers far and wide picked up the story. Back in Miami, OK, where Sam Barnes was reared, the News-Record ran a feature of him in the next edition.

Into the Spotlight!

Their win resulted in instant “fame and publicity” and nearly overnight, the quartet became national celebrities. They appeared on the nationally broadcast Major Bowes radio program as well as two appearances at a convention of police chiefs. They next appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, DC as guests of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, where they sang for three straight hours, and later were called “the best that has ever performed in Washington” by members of the Press Club.

From there, they travelled to Chicago on July 30^th, 1940 where they recorded eight of their songs at the Columbia Recording Company – Album C-35, Records 35795 to 35798. The four-record set entitled “Barbershop Melodies” included some of their most famous songs, including “Shine”, “Oh Joe”, “Harbor Lights” and “Old Aunt Dinah”. The set sold for $2.63, with the quartet principally using the Harmonizer as their method of advertising.

On the train ride home, the quartet was joined by the Phillips 66 Barflies. According to a 1975 memoir by Barflies’ tenor George McCaslin, he and Sam Barnes struck up a conversation about the singing they did prior to SPEBSQSA being established. McCaslin shared that his American Legion Quartet had placed second at a Legion-sponsored quartet contest in Muskogee, OK. McCaslin wrote: “Sam Barnes said ‘George, I sang in the quartet from Miami, OK that beat you that year’”.   

There were articles in Look, Time Newsweek and Pic magazines. They were even offered a contract to appear on radio station WLW in Cincinnati, but the quartet declined, explaining “we are police officers first and singers afterwards”.

Speaking of that, the quartet DID have an obligation to their civic duties. Originally, they only received one week of vacation time to travel to the competition. All this fuss and furor was not expected. At one point, they had to wire Chief Smith to ask for more time off. “Dear Chief: May we stay until Monday?” wrote the quartet – thinking that two extra days would be sufficient. Chief Smith replied with a congratulatory message: “Sing all you want. Until Tuesday”. In all actuality, the quartet needed another four extra days.

Founder OC Cash was elated at the outcome. “The society is getting more publicity than the Townsend Plan”, a revolving old-age pension plan that was the precursor to Social Security.

The quartet finally returned to Oklahoma City, OK on Thursday, August 1^st, 1940 “tired by a strenuous week of singing, handshaking and traveling”. Even though they were exhausted and ailing from colds, the quartet managed to stop at the station where they were welcomed by their fellow officers, including chief Frank Smith. From there, they returned to their homes for “some much needed rest”.  

The timing was good for bass Sam Barnes. Besides being exhausted, worn down and sick with a cold, Barnes was suffering from tonsillitis, and had to undergo a tonsillectomy shortly after returning home.

The surgery was serious – with concerns that the great bass would never be able to sing again. After the surgery, Barnes recuperated at his home on 1335 Northwest First Street using “ointments to soothe his ailing throat”. A photo that appeared in the August 13, 1940 Oklahoman shows Barnes with a large bandage wrapped around his head from under his chin to the top of his head. It would be late August before he would recuperate enough to be back singing with the quartet.

That prevented the quartet from singing at a celebration party on Tuesday, August 13^th at the Biltmore Hotel, hosted by the Society and overseen by OC Cash. Cash remarked at the celebration that the Flat Foot Four “won New York City’s affection and acclaim”.

By the end of August 1940, “life was getting back to normal” for the members of the quartet. They were “getting reacquainted with their families”, and they returned to work, “handing out tickets”.

The quartet next appeared on Sunday, September 1^st at the American Legion State Drum and Bugle competition at Taft Junior High School Stadium. The event was co-sponsored by radio stations WKY and KOMA and included The High Flyers, Men of the Range and Willard Yeats and the Merry Makers. This was the first public appearance for the quartet since Sam Barnes’ tonsillectomy.

From there, the bookings didn’t stop.

They travelled to Cushing, OK on Thursday, September 12^th to sing for the Cushing American Legion Smoker held at the Hugh Abercrombie Farm. They next appeared on Tuesday, October 8^th, 1940 at the annual dinner of the Oklahoma Congress of Parents and Teachers Council. Five days later, they sang at a meeting of the Oklahoma County Teachers Association at the Oklahoma City University auditorium. On Thursday, October 24^th, they sang for the Petroleum Accountants Society in the Ivory Room at the historic Mayo Hotel in Tulsa. Also appearing on the same show was the Chordbusters, who would go on to win the championship in 1941.

A couple of days later, they sang for the American Institute of Mining and Metalurgical Engineers at the Tulsa Club. Whalen explained that the quartet has become a “veritable four-man good will tour” for Oklahoma City – the exact purpose Mayor Cargill envisioned 17 years earlier. Their popularity was evident. “We’re booked solid through December to sing everything from school festivals to chamber meetings”, said Whelan.

Their next appearance was on Thursday, October 31^st at a dinner sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, which culminated in a patriotic finale with the Oklahoma City University choir. They were back in Tulsa in early November to sing for a group of about 400 Rotarians from 25 different clubs at the Hotel Tulsa. Also appearing on the show was a two-piano team of Campbell Chapman and Mrs. WW Morse.

Later that week, the quartet was “challenged” by Tulsa Mayor CH Veale, who claimed their city’s “Town Hall” Police Quartet was better than the world champs. “I extend a challenge to the Flat Foot Four to appear and compete with the Town Hall quartet” on November 9, 1940. Fortunate for the Town Hallers, OC Cash stepped in and issued his own challenge. Cash was part of the Okies quartet from Tulsa and believed the Town Hallers would first have to beat them before they could compete against the Flat Foot Four. “Doesn’t Veale know that the Okies are the Tulsa champions!”.

The quartet next sang for the Woodward, OK “Heads-Up” program. On Monday, November 18^th they appeared at the Annual Convention of the Oklahoma Municipal League, an association to assist and improve the counties and municipalities in Oklahoma. The quartet was lauded for their fine work as police officers. “They are four veteran police officers with nobody knows how many hours’ duty to their credit in sun and wind and cold and rain. Singing is incidental to their duties as municipal employees”.

In December, they were invited to sing at the inauguration of the new Mayor of Mexico City. The trip came at an interesting time. The citizens of Mexico City were revolting against the office of then President Lazaro Cardenas, who had appointed the incumbent mayor in 1928. Among their issues were the reduction of government services such as water and sewage and a loss of rent control. Several months earlier, famed Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was murdered while in exile.

They returned to the United States (safely!), and performed on Wednesday, December 11^th in a tri-state jamboree in Arkansas City. Among the quartets was a “pick-up” quartet called the Bartlesville Harmonizers with Harry Hall, Ray Berry Lloyd Martin and George McCaslin of the champion Bartlesville Barflies. As testament to their informal hobby, Hall interjected “We practiced briefly in the washroom and went on”.

Their next appearance was on Monday, December 23^rd, 1940 on the “Battle of the Bumpers” radio show on KTOK, a sort of game show presented by the state Safety Council. The show aired state-wide, being picked up by eight other stations.

1941 Begins!

1941 held great opportunity for the reigning champions.  To begin, they were part of a delegation of barbershoppers that was invited to appear before the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday, January 27^th, 1941. The visit was prompted by two senators who expressed an interest in chartering a chapter for the House members. The delegation – organized by OC Cash – included quartets from Bartlesville, Muskogee and Tulsa.

Interestingly, a power-struggle ensued by four senators who each expressed an interest in being elected chapter president for the “House” chapter. Fortunately, Cash stepped in and barred the senators from joining the society until “they learned harmony”.

The Flat Foot Four next appeared at the Twelfth Annual Ladies Night dinner on Monday, February 10^th at the Tulsa Club along with Betty Barber and “Handle-Bars” McGinty. The show was carried live by radio station KVOO. Three days later, the quartet made a 300-mile round-trip to provide last-minute “musical entertainment” at the annual banquet of the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce. This was an already busy time for the quartet, so unscheduled appearances like this threw a monkey wrench into their plans. Yet they fulfilled the engagement. “The quartet will be here for the dinner”, exclaimed Whalen. The chamber’s dinner committee was elated.

In mid-February, they appeared at the Oklahoma City PTA Founder’s Day Celebration, followed by an appearance on Thursday, February 27^th for the District Convention of the American Legion at their opening luncheon. The group was so popular that the hotel employees – including waitresses and cooks – stopped what they were doing to listen to the champs. 

In March, they sang for 150 advertising managers, publishers and executives of the state’s Newspaper Publishing Association. Later that month, the quartet passed out over 30,000 pamphlets about bicycle safety to students across the county. Besides singing at each appearance, the quartet provided practical instruction on bicycle safety. The quartet would also have the audience participate by asking them questions about the various parts of the bike and their functions.

On Thursday, March 6^th, 1941 the quartet sang at the Chickasaw Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner. A week later, they sang to a group of high school students in Cushing, OK as a part of their statewide tour promoting bicycle safety. They would repeat this performance in Early April for Kingfisher High School, and on May 1^st for the Blanchard, OK High School students.

According to the Chickasaw Express, by this point in time, the quartet had travelled 24,000 miles, sang live before 200,000 people and another 50 million people over the radio.

On Saturday, April 5^th, 1941, the quartet sang at “Senior Day”, a statewide special event where high school seniors could visit with industries and establishments to determine what line of work they wanted to pursue after graduation in June. Among the companies were the Wilson and Armour Packing Plant, the Oklahoma Publishing Company, Southwestern Bell as well as several radio stations. Over 4000 seniors attended the day-long event. The quartet was the feature attraction, with appearances by the Circle C. Ranch Hands and “Dixie Boy” Jordan.

Originally from Union County, Mississippi, Walter Aaron “Dixie Boy” Jordan moved to the Oklahoma City area in/about 1935 and began working at radio station WKY as one of the “Wiggins’ Hollow Folks”. He later moved from WKY to KOMA and performed as one of their “Radio Rangers”.

In early April, the quartet appeared at the regular meeting of the Muskogee Rotary Club in the Hotel Severs at noon. Later that same day – back in Oklahoma City – they were presented with new watches at the city’s Civic Clubs’ party in the Silver Glade room at the Skirvin Tower Hotel. This was the first such act of kindness presented to the quartet. The next night, they sang for the Fifth District Bankers. On Friday, April 11^th, the quartet sang at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. The event was to celebrate the Chamber’s “Clean Up, Paint Up” campaign, an initiative to clean up the town. The quartet sang a song written especially for the occasion by George Ande, a member of the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra. Two days later – Sunday, April 13^th, 1941, they sang at the annual Lotus Club dinner-dance.

On Friday, April 25th, they sang at the Woodward, OK Lodge for over 250 Masons at their 9^th annual homecoming, then travelled to Ponca City two days later where they sang for all the members of the Ponca City Teacher’s Association. That was followed by an appearance at the annual convention of Oklahoma Pharmaceutical Association’s Ladies Auxiliary. On Monday, April 28^th, 1941, the quartet sang at the Installation Dinner for new officers of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. They ended April by singing for the Ardmore Rotarians at their annual dinner held at the Ardmore YWCA.

On Thursday, May 1^st, the quartet introduced two new songs they had added to their repertoire, “The Gates of Gladness (On the Road to Sunshine Land)” and “(While Dancing with You) In Honolulu” for the Blanchard, OK Lions Club. The Gates of Gladness was originally recorded by The Shannon Four, who recorded the song in 1919. The lyrics of the refrain included “You have opened up the gates of gladness on the road to Sunshine Land. For you brought me from each thought of sadness when you took me by the hand”. “(While Dancing with You) In Honolulu” was written in 1938 by James L. Brown and John Schreck.

The Lion’s Club show was followed by an appearance on Sunday May 4^th 1941 at a barbecue for the Future Farmers of America at McLane Park in Verden, a town about 60 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Over 4,000 people were on hand to hear the quartet, and an address by Governor Leon “Red” Phillips, who served in the position from 1939-1943. The show was again broadcast on radio station WKY with station DJ Terry O’Sullivan as Master of Ceremonies. Five days later, they travelled to Garvin County – about 60 miles south of Oklahoma City – where they put on a show for the Paul’s Valley Defense Council at the high school auditorium.

All during this time, the quartet also appeared on numerous radio shows across the state. One in particular was the “Flat Foot Four Lunch” at 1:00pm on radio station WKY.

On Wednesday night May 7^th, the quartet celebrated the 50^th birthday of the town of Miami, OK, which was founded in 1891. Like Oklahoma City, Miami became a boom town after World War I when rich deposits of lead and zinc were discovered. But there was an added bonus to the celebration. This was Sam Barnes’ hometown and the residents came out in droves to greet the quartet.

The quartet headlined a show at the Shannon Springs Ampitheater on Thursday, June 26^th in Chickasaw, OK, where the people were big fans of the quartet. “The Flat Foot Four has appeared here several times and has always gone over big”, said Roy Cochran, chairman of the Jaycees event committee.

On Monday, June 30^th, 1941, the quartet sang “God Bless America” at the start of the start of the second annual police academy training school. Among the guests that day were United States District Attorney “CE” Dierker, Col. “RG” Hoyt of nearby Will Rogers Air Base, and Governor Leon Phillips.

In early July 1941, the quartet headed to St. Louis to compete in the 1941 National Quartet Contest. The trip was financed by the fundraising efforts of Bill Gill, Sr., Bill Katigan and Bill Morris, friends of the quartet, who worked tirelessly to raise all the money needed for the trip.

But, when they arrived, they discovered that they couldn’t compete in the contest because of a new rule by the SPEBSQSA Board of Directors that stipulated that the championship quartet from the previous year could not compete for one year. The ruling was made to give other quartets a chance at the gold medal. The quartet was disappointed. All summer, they rehearsed their songs and raised money for the trip. They even had to ask the chief of police for a one week leave of absence. “It’s the St. Louis Blues for the Flat Feet now”, exclaimed the local newspaper. Even though they were excluded from the contest, the quartet found St. Louis officers Weselch and Otting on the street outside the Statler Hotel and sang to them as cars passed by.  Sadly, they never were able to sing a swan song on what would be their final appearance in front of a national SPEBSQSA audience.

When they returned home, they were asked to appear at the opening day ceremonies of the Lion’s Club Summer Camp for Boys in mid-July.

Later that month, the quartet sent out invitations for contestants to appear on a state-wide amateur talent contest at the Lincoln Park Amphitheater. The event was hosted by the Oklahoma City Police Department and included a $100 first prize. To promote the contest, the quartet appeared on radio station WKY on Monday, July 14^th and again the following Monday to explain the contest rules and “sing a couple of songs”. The contest was used to raise funds for the police department’s benefit fund, and featured the National Youth Orchestra, which opened the contest with a 30-minute concert.

Interest in the contest was spectacular – both from spectators and participants alike. By the Sunday before the contest, over 7,000 tickets had been sold – and they had to order several thousand more so that they wouldn’t run out. A total of 115 acts entered the contest, too. Because of so much interest, a last-minute audition was held on Monday, August 4^th to pare the entries down to 60 contestants. The audition was overseen by Britt Stegall and several other musicians.

The contest began on Thursday, August 7, 1941, with over 3,000 people in attendance. Among the contestants were “One Man’s Family Drum Corps” from nearby El Reno, OK. The act consisted of the ten children of LH Smith, and included his 5-year old son Tommy, who was dressed as Uncle Sam, and 7-year old twins Mary Sue and Martha Lou. Other performers included a ventriloquist, a hillbilly band and a group of Indians that performed a traditional Indian dance with lives snakes.

But the winner that evening was 12-year old Rebecca Terry of Southwest 26^th Street, who performed rope tricks that “could do everything but talk”.

Second place winners were Billy and Bobby Maxwell from Loyal Kingfisher county, 9-year old twins that sang “Ridin’ Down the Canyon” til “their neck muscles bulged”. In third place that evening was 13-year old Sue Breeding of North Barnes Avenue, who “made the audience gasp” with her acrobatic dance. To close the evening, the quartet sang several numbers that “brought down the house”.

The winner of the Friday night contest was 17-year old Laverne Shinn from Chickasha, OK – about 40 miles southwest of Oklahoma City – who did an imitation of Disney’s Donald Duck getting mad at his nephews. Over 4,000 people were in attendance. “The crowd went wild” at the act. Prior to the performance, Shinn was invited to perform at the home of Police Chief Frank Smith, who was “on the sick list”. Smith was so moved by the child’s performance he attended the finals that evening.

In second place that night were the brother-sister act of Bill and Francis Hite, who performed an adagio dance – a combination dance/gymnastics number – where “Bill swung Frances so fast from his neck it made the audience dizzy”.

Following the Youth Orchestra’s performance on Saturday night, the Flat Foot Four sang prior to the beginning of the contest finals, with over 7,000 people in attendance. The judges were able to pare down the acts to ten finalists – eight from the Thursday night session and two from the Friday night performance.

The winner of the contest was none other than the hapless Donald Duck imitator, Laverne Shinn, who “kept the crowd in gales of laughter”, beating the other contestants by almost 150 points. Second place went to the Hite brother/sister act and third place was won by 12-year old rope-twirler Barbara Terry.

Three days later, they travelled to Clinton, OK, about 90 miles west of Oklahoma City to sing at the first annual Clinton water Carnival at the municipal swimming pool on Tuesday, August 12^th. On Friday, August 15^th, the quartet appeared at a memorial that marked the six-year anniversary of the death of the beloved Will Rogers. The quartet was joined by “some of the (other) outstanding barbershop quartets of the nation”, including the Chordbusters, the newly crowned quartet champions.

On Thursday, September 4^th, the Flat Foot Four appeared at Wheeler Park along with Laverne Shinn, Barbara Terry and the Hites – winners of the amateur contest held a month earlier – to raise $800.00 to pay off the Oklahoma City Softball League deficit. The deficit was due to poorer attendance the year before, caused principally by ten rainouts. The money was used to maintain the city-owned properties and pay for trophies and awards.

The quartet was next featured at a benefit dance on Saturday, September 6^th. The event was hosted by the American Red Cross and held at the Phillips Petroleum Community Hall.

The benefit was meant to raise monies to buy sewing machines, because even though it would be another four months before the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor – throwing the United States into World War II – the war raged on in Europe, Russia and the Far East. To support the efforts of our allies, many women took up knitting and sewing. Those items were bundled along with food and other provisions – “care packages” – called Bundles for Britain. The sewing machines would be used to make the needed garments. The quartet’s last song that evening was Four-Way Song, in which four different songs are sung simultaneously in harmony.

Then, tragedy struck.

After performing that evening, Leon “Johnny” Whalen, the much-loved – and only – tenor of the quartet, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on his way home from the show. He was rushed by ambulance from his home at 3618 Northwest Twenty-Second Street to Oklahoma City General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

The city was in shock and disbelief. His illness made front-page news. Whalen had become the darling of the quartet. “Everywhere he went, he made friends” wrote the newspaper. Calls and letters flooded the police department and hospital. Everyone wanted to know: “How’s Johnny Today?”. By Friday, September 12^th, Whalen’s condition was downgraded from Critical, to Very Critical.

Then, on Sunday, September 14^th came the news that everyone was dreading.

The “little man with the high notes”, Leon “Johnny” Whalen, had passed away.

Whalen was born in Paris, IL, but his parents moved to Oklahoma City when he was three years old. He started singing in a boy’s quartet and acapella chorus while in high school. After graduating in 1915, Whalen joined the National Guard where he met Red Elliott and Sam Barnes. He served in France during World War I, serving with the 143^rd Field Hospital and the 36^th Division. He fought in the Meuse and Argonne offensives in France during the summer of 1918.

While overseas, he sang with the Smileage Four, entertaining troops on the front lines. He was honorably discharged in June 1919 and returned to Oklahoma City where he married Thelma Peaster. The couple had two children, Michael and Thelma-Patricia.

Whalen’s career as a police officer included a number of different assignments, including the first radio dispatcher for the department. He also served with the stolen car division and the scout patrol. Prior to working for the police force, Whalen worked as a car salesman and a banker. He also tried his hand at automobile racing and made it as far as the qualifying trials of the Indianapolis 500.

Whalen was buried Tuesday, September 16^th at a service that was attended by about 50 friends and family, and included songs by the Chordbusters, who had just won the championship themselves. After the service, a group of friends – led by long-time friend Bill Morris – organized a memorial show for Whalen. Also helping him was OC Cash, and Police Commissioner Smith.  The event was scheduled for Tuesday, September 30^th at the Municipal Auditorium. Because of the interest in the show, the group decided to put on a second “preview” show on Saturday, September 27^th at the Criterion Theater. That show featured the new movie “Lady-Be Good”, with Eleanor Powell and Robert Young, and the Clarence Tackett Orchestra.

The show on Tuesday night featured eight quartets, including the Chordbusters, and a variety of other acts. At the end of the show – Sam Barnes, Red Elliott and Britt Stegall, the three remaining members of the Flat Foot Four appeared briefly to a thunderous standing ovation.

All fees and services were waived by the participants, and the monies raised all went to Whalen’s widow and their two children. Tickets for the show cost $.50 to $1.00 and were available at the Veazey Drug Store on West Main Street. The shows raised over $5,000.00, and went to the Whalen family who paid off the mortgage on their home on 3618 Northwest 22^nd Street.

This was the second fundraising event that Morris chaired for the quartet. Just six months prior, Morris was one of the men responsible for raising money to defray the quartet’s ill-fated trip to St. Louis to “compete” in the 1941 quartet competition.

Who Can Replace Johnny Whalen?

Afterwards, people wondered if someone could/would replace Johnny Whalen. “I don’t know any member of the (police) department at present who can step into that vacancy”, said Chief Smith. “Johnny was one of the greatest tenor singers in the country”. “He gave unstingingly of his time for the pleasure of others”.

Less than a month later though, the quartet had found someone.

Eddie Albright, a “veteran quartet singer” – and employee of the city’s Health Department was their man.

Albright was a seasoned tenor, who – like Whalen and the others – sang barbershop harmony “for the fun of it”. There was a catch, though. Much like Whalen 17 years earlier, Albright did not work for the police department – he was employed by the county Health Department. But once again – as if by magic – Albright was re-assigned to the police department, thereby keeping the quartet’s namesake accurate.

Albright started out singing with the Universal Quartet in 1926, with Frank Heffington at baritone, John Reed at lead and Paul Chapman at bass. Albright’s tenor was legendary, known for its “peculiar fineness in it which almost dominates the heavier voices, even Chapman’s rolling basso”.

He also sang with was the Shrine Quartet. They represented the India Temple of Shriners International. This was much like the Flat Foot Four, which represented the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Shriners International has long been a fraternal organization based on the Masonic principles of brotherly love. The India Temple Shrine was especially known for their charitable work with critically ill children.

That quartet – which first formed with other singers as early as 1919 – consisted of Albright at tenor, Frank Heffington at baritone, Clarence Sloan at lead (called second tenor) and Edward Crawford at bass. Their first appearance together was in November 1931 at the Induction Ceremony for 30 Shriners at the India Temple in Oklahoma City. The thirty men who were inducted that evening all learned the secret oath, secret handshake, and participated in the “Hot Sand” initiation ritual.

Incidentally, Albright – another veteran of World War I – sang with Red Elliott in a 36^th Division Quartet in France in 1918.

The first “major public appearance” by the quartet after the death of Johnny Whalen was on Thursday, October 30^th, 1941 at the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce “Heads-Up” Dinner. Also appearing at the dinner was the National Youth Administration Orchestra. Over 600 people braved the rain and mud to attend the performance.

The quartet next appeared at the state luncheon of the Oklahoma Society for Crippled Children in the Silver Glade Room at the Skirvin Tower Hotel.

The date was Friday, December 5^th, 1941.

Two days later, the country was thrown into World War II when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a “day that will live in infamy”. Among the people affected by the war were Bob Hollbrook and Bob Greer of the Chordbusters. Both worked for defense contractors and were ordered/reassigned from Tulsa to other locations.

Once again, the unflappable Bill Morris – the “major domo for the Flat Foot Four” organized a send-off celebration at the Biltmore Hotel on Saturday, January 24^th, 1942. The show would feature a new, up-and-coming quartet, the Oakies, along with the Flat Foot Four.

Even though the war had begun, the quartet appeared a week later at a fundraising event to benefit infantile paralysis. The show featured an address from President Roosevelt and was carried coast-to-coast by WKY Radio.

The quartet next appeared on Saturday, December 20^th, 1941 for the annual Hospitality Club Children’s Christmas Party at the Little Theater in the Municipal Auditorium. Over 500 children “stuffed themselves with turkey” while magician Emmett Barbee mesmerized them with magic tricks.

Their next appearance was on Sunday, February 22^nd, 1942 at a kickoff of the Oklahoma City Trades and Labor Council that was being run to raise more than $1,000,000 in war bonds.

A month later, they sang at a luncheon for the American Legion auxiliary in the Silver Glade Room of the Skirvin Tower Hotel.

On Tuesday, March 31^st, 1942, the quartet sang in what some considered their last performance with the three remaining members of the quartet. It was an excellent choice, even if it wasn’t an official “Swan Song”.

The quartet appeared at the halftime ceremonies between interstate rivals University of Oklahoma from Norman, OK and Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College, which would later be known as Oklahoma State University, based in Stillwater, OK. Besides being a match-up between the two schools – their third – proceeds from the game would be put towards the local Navy Relief Workers’ campaign (now known as the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society). NMCRS provides financial assistance through interest-free loans, scholarships and other financial instruments.

Over 4,000 “enthusiastic” fans packed the Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium on North Walker Street (renamed the Civic Center Music Hall in 1966) to watch the “grueling” game, which was also broadcast live on KTOK. In the end, the event raised over $3500 for the NMCRS. Incidentally, Oklahoma A&M won the game 44-35.

On May 1^st, the quartet appeared at the 25^th anniversary celebration of the American War Mothers’ Association. The event was held in the Civic Room of the Biltmore Hotel.

“The Quartet is Dead”(?)

The “Beginning-of-the-End” for the quartet began in late May 1942. According to accounts in the Oklahoman, Sam Barnes was assigned – like the other three members of the quartet – to the traffic division. Among his duties were watching for “Jaywalkers” – pedestrian that walked in the streets. Unfortunately, “Jaywalking” was not allowed in Oklahoma City – and Barnes was very critical of the decree by Police Chief Frank Smith to issue tickets to Jaywalkers.

Barnes explained that the police officers were not enforcing the law, because “People in Oklahoma City have been jaywalking for 40 years”. Besides that, there was a ration of rubber and gasoline for WWII, meaning less car traffic on streets (and more foot traffic). Barnes further stated that many violators thought the police officers were joking when they issued a ticket.

To further complicate things, it seems as though Barnes was involved in a minor “fender bender” after a performance on Saturday May 30^th. Barnes was supposed to be on duty at 1:30pm that afternoon but didn’t arrive for his shift until nearly 4:00pm. And, even though he called to explain his predicament, he alleged that “three superior officers swooped down on me” on Sunday, reprimanding him for being late. In Barnes’ opinion, this was retribution by the police chief for the criticism he was getting from Barnes about Jaywalking. Right there and then, Barnes decided to resign. “He just walked in and laid down his badge” said Chief Smith. Later Barnes lamented “The quartet is dead”.

Since “The Show Must Go On”, the three remaining members: Britt Stegall, Red Elliott and Eddie Albright went on as a trio at the Kiwanis Club’s free show for servicemen on Saturday, June 13^th at the Shrine Auditorium along with a magician, “fire-eater” and soprano Mabel Holtzchue.

Fortunately, the quartet was back in business three weeks later after the Traffic Commission suspended the Jaywalking law. This allowed Chief Smith to reinstate Barnes. “All was harmony with the Flat Foot Four” claimed the Oklahoman. Even so, Chief Smith reminded everyone that “We’ve got a war on, and we can’t spend all our time singing”.

Barnes wasn’t the only quartet member that got into hot water over the jaywalking issue. It seems that Baritone Red Elliott made the news – one day after Barnes – when he was forced to ticket a young stenographer for roller-skating to work. The incident was brought to the attention of Councilman Harlow Gers, who stated “These girls must think we’re a bunch of cheap skates!”. Gers went on to say that he would even post bail for any woman getting arrested for the scofflaw. The incident caused much embarrassment for Elliott, who was “red-faced” for only doing as he was ordered. Eventually, the young lady was only issued a warning.

But things were beginning to unravel for the quartet.

In early July, Red Elliott – a veteran of World War I – resigned from the force to work in a Houston shipyard, and the quartet was again a trio.

There are very few accounts of the quartet after this point. Most of the newsworthy material consisted of their activities as police officers. There is one account of a quartet that was billed as the “Flat Foot Four” in the March 1943 Harmonizer, but the names of the quartet members are omitted. An article in the Oklahoman from April 1942 also mentions the quartet, but does not identify the members. Given that Red Elliott had already moved to Houston, it is possible that Stegall, Barnes and Albright found another baritone to replace Elliott, but at that point, the make-up of the quartet would be far different than the 1940 Championship Quartet of Whalen, Barnes, Stegall and Elliott.

Epilog

On Monday January 3^rd, 1944, Sam Barnes was fired from the Oklahoma City Police Department along with two other officers. According to then Police Chief LJ Hilbert, the three were let go for a variety of reasons, and “the betterment of the service”. Barnes believed it was a holdover grudge from the Jaywalking incident a year-and-a-half earlier. Another reason may have been his alleged participation in a chicken/cock fight while on duty. Barnes lamented “I might have looked in on the show”.

After Barnes’ release and Elliott’s departure, lead Britt Stegall started singing with Clarence Sloan, Ernie Dick and Hank Wright as the Boresome Foursome. Stegall retired after 20 years from the OCPD on December 1, 1958.

Red Elliott served on-and-off the police force for about ten years, serving as a patrolman, detective in the vice squad and finally, sergeant back in the patrol division. He was born on January 16^th, 1897 in Georgetown, TX and worked as a car salesman prior to joining the force.

After the war, Red Elliott had settled in Roundrock, TX where he lived with his sister. Long-time barbershopper Marlin Giffith got to know Red Elliott in the early 1960s. Griffith and Elliott sang together in the Austin, TX Chapter. Griffith recalls that Elliott’s health had eroded to the point he could not stand on the risers, yet he was “an inspiration” to the whole chorus. Elliott passed away on July 22, 1969 at the age of seventy-two.

Griffith couldn’t remember the date of Elliott’s passing, but said that his quartet sang at the funeral. He recalled his last visit with Elliott at the VA Hospital. Elliott – a long-time smoker – was confined to an oxygen tent to help him breath. Even so, he asked Griffith for “one last smoke”.

Britt Stegall served for over 20 years for the Oklahoma City Police Department, retiring on December 1, 1958. After retiring from the police department, Stegall worked for Central National Bank. Besides his involvement with SPEBSQSA, he was a member of the American Legion. Stegall died at the age of 69 on October 11, 1961. He was survived by his wife, Peggy and their daughter Edna May Miller of Stockton, CA. Efforts to track down his daughter were unsuccessful.

After being fired from the force, Barnes served as a Detective with the Pinkerton Detective Association. He died on October 5^th, 1958, just three short months before Britt Stegall retired. He was buried in his hometown of Miami, OK. His wife Corrine predeceased him in 1952 at the age of 36. There were no survivors listed in his obituary.

Finally Chief Granville Scanland – the person responsible for re-activating the quartet and then singing with them to a second-place finish in 1939 – passed away in April, 1984.